


Unveiled

by Emery



Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: Angst, Drama, Invasion of Privacy, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-09-05
Updated: 2012-09-05
Packaged: 2017-11-13 14:41:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/504587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emery/pseuds/Emery
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barnaby’s phone is stolen and all of its contents are dumped online, including some very sensitive and embarrassing information regarding his and Kotetsu’s relationship, not to mention the real identities of some of the heroes. Drama ensues, of course, and Barnaby's relationship with Kotetsu and his friendships with his fellow heroes are jeopardized.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unveiled

Barnaby has never accounted for anything like this happening. Never in his wildest dreams has he imagined that losing his cell phone could be such a catastrophe. He certainly wasn’t considering such an outcome when he failed to delete some rather telling text messages, nor did he ever think that the videos and pictures saved on the device—the ones from Kotetsu made just for him—would ever be made available for the entire world to see.  
  
He feels nauseous, though even that’s an understatement. The heavy feeling residing deep in his stomach is one of dread, shame, anger, and anxiety so sharp he’s never experienced anything like it before. His cheeks are flushed in a constant shade of red and his hands are trembling as he swallows thickly and opens yet another email from his agent Mr. Lloyds.  
  
The middle-aged man has been keeping Barnaby updated on the viral spread of his private life over the internet, mercilessly providing him links to every post, article, and video that’s been found. At first, Barnaby’s employers at Apollon try to cover up the personal matters that have suddenly become so public, deleting and removing and modifying, but Barnaby is too popular and his dirty secrets are even more tantalizing—the spread of the information throughout cyberspace is unstoppable, and Barnaby soon forces himself to realize that there is  _nothing_  he can do. Things will only get worse.

Holding his head in his hands, that sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach manages to worsen even more, and he feels like he’s about to vomit because he is the worst partner Kotetsu could ever have. The blond desperately wishes that he could be the only one punished for being so careless about his phone’s contents, but he’s not. Instead, Kotetsu is suffering just as much, if not more, than him. As if having his identity plastered all over the internet for the world to see isn’t enough, there are pictures, videos, private information, even a couple  _nudes_  of the attractive Japanese man previously known to Sternbild only as Wild Tiger.  
  
Now he is known as much more.  
  
Kotetsu T. Kaburagi, Barnaby’s lover—or, more popular, Barnaby’s fuck buddy, that slutty hero, that failure of a man who would display himself so fully to a pretty blond celebrity so many years younger than him. Barnaby is of course worried to death about the deadly dive his own reputation has taken, but he’s even more distraught over the blow to Kotetsu’s previously flawless record as both a hero and a respectable man of Sternbild.  
  
He angrily turns off his computer then, his fingers trembling as they fumble with the mouse and the screen covering the entirety of his apartment wall goes black. Without the light of the display, Barnaby has only darkness. The city lights glowing through his window even so many stories up are the only things saving him from falling and tumbling into a dark abyss, but he likes it that way. The darkness is better, he ponders to himself. It’s better when things are kept in the dark. It’s better when there’s such a thing as privacy and respect. It’s better to be a normal person, not a celebrity, to be able to keep secrets and revel in the joy of knowing something that no one else does.  
  
He no longer has any of these luxuries, and while it’s his own damned fault it’s still not  _fair_. There’s  _nothing_  about Barnaby’s life that’s fair anymore, and just when he thinks he has one thing that he’s content with, one thing in the world that makes him happy, even that glee is stolen from him, twisted and perverted into the sick feeling he has in his stomach now as he remembers seeing what used to be a private video posted on a social networking site earlier that morning.   
  
Barnaby reacts with hatred, only because he’s not sure what else to do. He blames the matter on everyone he can, throwing fault and blame around like a shower of nothing but furious emotion. Everyone is a little to blame, but his Uncle Maverick tops the list in Barnaby’s opinion. He remembers being a senior in high school filling out college applications, wanting nothing more than to be accepted into a major research university and become a successful engineer to continue his parents’ legacy. He remembers his beloved uncle tearing the applications from his hands and commanding, not suggesting, that he attend Sternbild’s Hero Academy instead.  
  
Barnaby never asked to be a hero. Instead, he actively fought against it. There was only one advantage that could be gained from such an occupation, and that was power and popularity, a way to get his name out to the world and, more importantly, to Ouroboros. Finally, after months of fighting with Maverick over the matter, Barnaby remembers conceding to his uncle’s request and giving up his dreams of a higher education to become a highly trained hero celebrity instead. He remembers how popular he was even in the academy, how much the city looked up to him from the very beginning, and how he wanted nothing more than for all of Sternbild to know his name. He wanted to become a powerful symbol, something Ouroboros would fear, but what did that matter now?  
  
Nothing.  
  
Sure, everyone in Sternbild knows the name Barnaby Brooks Jr., but it is no longer something respectable and feared. Instead, the name is nothing but something to laugh at, something to sneer at, something to look down upon and chide. It’s a dirty name now, disrespected and tarnished forever. There is no redeeming himself now, and Barnaby believes that his is a lost cause. He finds himself spiraling, unable to move from his position in the dark room, and his head is spinning. He’s lost, there’s nowhere else to go, nothing else to do, he might as well not even be living.  
  
Instinctively, he picks up his phone, and instinctively he speed-dials Kotetsu. He’s not sure why, and he doesn’t even mean to, but he somehow finds himself comforted by the fact that he at least has someone to call at all. If there’s anyone left that can cheer him up now and talk some sense into him, it’s his lover—or so Barnaby thinks.  
  
The dull ringing tone on the other line repeats itself more than is usual, and Barnaby feels his stomach knotting with every passing second.   
  
 _Kotetsu’s not going to answer his phone._  
  
More ringing, and Barnaby’s heart beats faster.  
  
 _He hates me._  
  
The voicemail is going to pick up, soon.  
  
 _He’s never going to speak to me again._  
  
“You’ve reached the voicemail box of—“ says a feminine robotic voice.  
  
Barnaby shuts his phone.  
  
 _Can I blame him?_


End file.
